Fernando Amorsolo: Reflection of a Filipino Soul
On May 30, 1892, one of the most celebrated artists in the Philippines was born in Manila. Fernando Amorsolo would eventually be named "The Grand Old Man of Philippine Art" and would sell his abundant paintings to collectors around the globe. His art would be marked by a celebration of Philippine culture, and his life and art would be celebrated by posthumously making him the first National Artist of the Philippines.
The Apprentice
Shortly after Amorsolo’s birth, his father moved him away from Manila to the small, seaside town of Daet in Camarines Norte. Country life suited him, and he enjoyed life away from the automobiles, locomotives, telephones, and other new technologies in the city.
At age 11, Amorsolo’s father, who had been a staunch advocate of his son’s talent, passed away. Before his death, however, he arranged for Amorsolo to study as an apprentice under his wife’s cousin in Manila, Fabian de la Rosa, and the family moved back to the capital city. De La Rosa was himself an established Filipino painter and instructor, and he took the ambitious boy under his arm.
By the time he was seventeen years old, Amorsolo graduated with honors in painting and drawing from the Art School of the Liceo de Manila. Then, overcoming economic difficulties, he enrolled at the University of the Philippines’ School of Fine Arts. During this time, the young artist fine-tuned his technical skills, finding inspiration among Spanish contemporaries such as Joaquín Sorolla Bastida and Ignacio Zuloaga, as well as among Velásquez, Sargent, Monet, Renoir, and Zorn.
The Professional
By 1916, he graduated with honors and began to support himself as both an art instructor and a commercial artist. This same year, a new door opened in Amorsolo’s life as an artist. With a sponsorship from Spanish art-supporter Enrique Zobel de Ayala, Amorsolo visited Spain for seven months. Here he was able to see European art in person, and, for the first time, study the craft of his realist, impressionist, and post-impressionist idols up close. Following this trip, he visited New York City where, a few years later, he would hold a solo exhibition. These two formative trips allowed Amorsolo to begin establishing himself outside of the Philippines as an artist of renown.
Upon returning to the Philippines, the artist was filled with new creative energy. He opened a studio in Manila and, over the course of the next two decades, he put out an astonishing number of works. His famous painting Rice Planting (1922) quickly became a national icon when the Commonwealth of the Philippines featured it on posters and tourist brochures. During this time, he also began to receive widespread international acclaim, including a first prize at the New York’s World Fair for Afternoon Meal of Rice Workers (1929).
The Master
He has been called "The Painter of Philippines Sunlight" because of the way his landscapes seem nearly to shimmer with flecks of sunshine. His use of backlighting became his artistic trademark, blanketing his subjects in a distinctive, mesmerizing glow. His use of light and shadow powerfully steer the eye around the canvas and ultimately give his work an overwhelming sense of what art historian Eric Torres describes as "sweetness and optimism."
This lightwork celebrates, unapologetically, the Philippine life and culture. He eschewed the trappings of the upper class and instead, like many realist Europeans painters, focused on depicting the traditional customs, culture, and fiestas of the agricultural class. Also like European painters, he did tend to romanticize the plight of these workers, imbuing them with doll-like charm. But for Amorsolo, this was not a reductionist attempt to flatten the countryside into an ideal, but rather an insistence that the people of the Philippines were worthy of all the celebration in the world—excessive or not.
As a result, Amorsolo’s work has been seen as a focused attempt to uplift his fellow citizens and to secure for them their righteous place in the hallowed halls of both art and political history. Additionally, he painted several pieces to depict Spanish colonial and wartime events, as well as a series on the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II. They reveal, unflinchingly, the artist’s disdain for foreign occupation.
Amorsolo’s work has been celebrated and prized around the world. He received a UNESCO gold medal of recognition (1959), the Rizal Pro-Patria Award (1961), the Araw Ng Maynila Award (1963), and the Goad CCP para sa Sinig, from the Cultural Center of the Philippines. His paintings hang in The Ayala Museum (Manila), The Central Bank of the Philippines (Manila), The Lopez Museum (Manila), and The National Museum of the Philippines (Manila). He produced a staggering amount of work including an estimated 10,000 paintings, sketches, and studies, continuing to paint prolifically even as his health deteriorated. Considered to be the most influential Philippine painter of the 20th century, Amorsolo died in 1972 one month before his 80th birthday.
On May 30, 1892, one of the most celebrated artists in the Philippines was born in Manila. Fernando Amorsolo would eventually be named "The Grand Old Man of Philippine Art" and would sell his abundant paintings to collectors around the globe. His art would be marked by a celebration of Philippine culture, and his life and art would be celebrated by posthumously making him the first National Artist of the Philippines.
The Apprentice
Shortly after Amorsolo’s birth, his father moved him away from Manila to the small, seaside town of Daet in Camarines Norte. Country life suited him, and he enjoyed life away from the automobiles, locomotives, telephones, and other new technologies in the city.
At age 11, Amorsolo’s father, who had been a staunch advocate of his son’s talent, passed away. Before his death, however, he arranged for Amorsolo to study as an apprentice under his wife’s cousin in Manila, Fabian de la Rosa, and the family moved back to the capital city. De La Rosa was himself an established Filipino painter and instructor, and he took the ambitious boy under his arm.
By the time he was seventeen years old, Amorsolo graduated with honors in painting and drawing from the Art School of the Liceo de Manila. Then, overcoming economic difficulties, he enrolled at the University of the Philippines’ School of Fine Arts. During this time, the young artist fine-tuned his technical skills, finding inspiration among Spanish contemporaries such as Joaquín Sorolla Bastida and Ignacio Zuloaga, as well as among Velásquez, Sargent, Monet, Renoir, and Zorn.
The Professional
By 1916, he graduated with honors and began to support himself as both an art instructor and a commercial artist. This same year, a new door opened in Amorsolo’s life as an artist. With a sponsorship from Spanish art-supporter Enrique Zobel de Ayala, Amorsolo visited Spain for seven months. Here he was able to see European art in person, and, for the first time, study the craft of his realist, impressionist, and post-impressionist idols up close. Following this trip, he visited New York City where, a few years later, he would hold a solo exhibition. These two formative trips allowed Amorsolo to begin establishing himself outside of the Philippines as an artist of renown.
Upon returning to the Philippines, the artist was filled with new creative energy. He opened a studio in Manila and, over the course of the next two decades, he put out an astonishing number of works. His famous painting Rice Planting (1922) quickly became a national icon when the Commonwealth of the Philippines featured it on posters and tourist brochures. During this time, he also began to receive widespread international acclaim, including a first prize at the New York’s World Fair for Afternoon Meal of Rice Workers (1929).
The Master
He has been called "The Painter of Philippines Sunlight" because of the way his landscapes seem nearly to shimmer with flecks of sunshine. His use of backlighting became his artistic trademark, blanketing his subjects in a distinctive, mesmerizing glow. His use of light and shadow powerfully steer the eye around the canvas and ultimately give his work an overwhelming sense of what art historian Eric Torres describes as "sweetness and optimism."
This lightwork celebrates, unapologetically, the Philippine life and culture. He eschewed the trappings of the upper class and instead, like many realist Europeans painters, focused on depicting the traditional customs, culture, and fiestas of the agricultural class. Also like European painters, he did tend to romanticize the plight of these workers, imbuing them with doll-like charm. But for Amorsolo, this was not a reductionist attempt to flatten the countryside into an ideal, but rather an insistence that the people of the Philippines were worthy of all the celebration in the world—excessive or not.
As a result, Amorsolo’s work has been seen as a focused attempt to uplift his fellow citizens and to secure for them their righteous place in the hallowed halls of both art and political history. Additionally, he painted several pieces to depict Spanish colonial and wartime events, as well as a series on the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II. They reveal, unflinchingly, the artist’s disdain for foreign occupation.
Amorsolo’s work has been celebrated and prized around the world. He received a UNESCO gold medal of recognition (1959), the Rizal Pro-Patria Award (1961), the Araw Ng Maynila Award (1963), and the Goad CCP para sa Sinig, from the Cultural Center of the Philippines. His paintings hang in The Ayala Museum (Manila), The Central Bank of the Philippines (Manila), The Lopez Museum (Manila), and The National Museum of the Philippines (Manila). He produced a staggering amount of work including an estimated 10,000 paintings, sketches, and studies, continuing to paint prolifically even as his health deteriorated. Considered to be the most influential Philippine painter of the 20th century, Amorsolo died in 1972 one month before his 80th birthday.